Balloon releases: Colorful source of debate

Updated 9:19 am, Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Photo: San Antonio Express-News / File Photo

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This was the scene at Armstrong Elementary School after its namesake, astronaut Neil Armstrong, died in 2012. Some people claim the balloons degrade at the same rate as an oak leaf, but others say they wind up in the ocean.

This was the scene at Armstrong Elementary School after its namesake, astronaut Neil Armstrong, died in 2012. Some people claim the balloons degrade at the same rate as an oak leaf, but others say they wind up

Hundreds of colorful balloons were released during a ceremony iannouncing the start of National Crime Victims' Rights Week.

Hundreds of colorful balloons were released during a ceremony iannouncing the start of National Crime Victims' Rights Week.

Photo: Helen L. Montoya, San Antonio Express-News

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Jeffry Yearly, 2, and Paola Alonzo were among those attending a balloon release in Main Plaza as Bexar County and city officials gathered to mark the start of National Crime Victims' Rights Week.

Jeffry Yearly, 2, and Paola Alonzo were among those attending a balloon release in Main Plaza as Bexar County and city officials gathered to mark the start of National Crime Victims' Rights Week.

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Bexar County and City Officials gathered in Main Plaza on Monday April 8, 2013 to announce the start of National Crime Victims Rights Week in Bexar County with the release of over 200 balloons.

Bexar County and City Officials gathered in Main Plaza on Monday April 8, 2013 to announce the start of National Crime Victims Rights Week in Bexar County with the release of over 200 balloons.

Photo: Helen L. Montoya, San Antonio Express-News

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Margie Salinas (right) attended the start of National Crime Victims Week in honor of Dedra Salinas who was found in 2006 buried in her backyard. Bexar County and City Officials gathered in Main Plaza on Monday April 8, 2013 to announce the start of National Crime Victims Rights Week in Bexar County with the release of over 200 balloons.

Margie Salinas (right) attended the start of National Crime Victims Week in honor of Dedra Salinas who was found in 2006 buried in her backyard. Bexar County and City Officials gathered in Main Plaza on Monday

Bexar County and City Officials gathered in Main Plaza on Monday April 8, 2013 to announce the start of National Crime Victims Rights Week in Bexar County with the release of over 200 balloons.

Bexar County and City Officials gathered in Main Plaza on Monday April 8, 2013 to announce the start of National Crime Victims Rights Week in Bexar County with the release of over 200 balloons.

Photo: Helen L. Montoya, San Antonio Express-News

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Bexar County and City Officials gathered in Main Plaza on Monday April 8, 2013 to announce the start of National Crime Victims Rights Week in Bexar County with the release of over 200 balloons.

Bexar County and City Officials gathered in Main Plaza on Monday April 8, 2013 to announce the start of National Crime Victims Rights Week in Bexar County with the release of over 200 balloons.

Photo: Helen L. Montoya, San Antonio Express-News

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Balloons are released by the participating teams including McAllister Park during the Opening Ceremonies of the 2009 Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa., Friday, Aug. 21, 2009.

Balloons are released by the participating teams including McAllister Park during the Opening Ceremonies of the 2009 Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa., Friday, Aug. 21, 2009.

Photo: Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News

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Balloons are released Saturday, July 21, 2012, at a vigil at Gateway High School in Aurora, Colo., for AJ Boik, who was a student at the school and who was killed along with 11 others when a gunman opened fire in a movie theater.

Balloons are released Saturday, July 21, 2012, at a vigil at Gateway High School in Aurora, Colo., for AJ Boik, who was a student at the school and who was killed along with 11 others when a gunman opened fire

TMI students send messages to the heavens at Day of Prayer After daily chapel Jan. 6, the 430 students of TMI – The Episcopal School of Texas observed a Day of Prayer by writing special messages on balloons and releasing them together at the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer. Messages included “Peace be with you,” “Best year ever” and “Thank you,” as well as more personal hopes and wishes. “Prayers in chapel can get a little repetitious. It was touching and symbolic to see our prayers go up to the sky,” said senior Marian Amini, president of the school’s Interact community-service club, which co-sponsored the event with TMI’s Moms in Touch prayer group. Members of the Interact club came up with the idea before Christmas break, said Tracy Carter, their faculty sponsor. “We’re thankful we had such a beautiful day for balloons.”

TMI students send messages to the heavens at Day of Prayer After daily chapel Jan. 6, the 430 students of TMI – The Episcopal School of Texas observed a Day of Prayer by writing special messages on balloons

Backdropped by a full moon, thousands of balloons are released into the night sky honoring the Chilean soccer team at their 2014 World Cup qualifying soccer match against Uruguay in Santiago, Chile, Tuesday, March 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo)

Backdropped by a full moon, thousands of balloons are released into the night sky honoring the Chilean soccer team at their 2014 World Cup qualifying soccer match against Uruguay in Santiago, Chile, Tuesday,

Fifty thousand biodegradable balloons are released by Sao Paulo's Commercial Association (ACSP) at Patio do Collegio, the historical Jesuit church and school founded in 1554 as the foundation of the city, Sao Paulo, Brazil, on December 28, 2012. An office boy first released 100 balloons in 1992 and the event then turned into tradition for celebrating New Year when ACSP took over.

Fifty thousand biodegradable balloons are released by Sao Paulo's Commercial Association (ACSP) at Patio do Collegio, the historical Jesuit church and school founded in 1554 as the foundation of the city, Sao

Balloons are released into the air to celebrate the New Year in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Balloons are released into the air to celebrate the New Year in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Photo: Alexandre Meneghini, AP

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10/30/1976 - President Gerald Ford waves to the crowd as balloons are released at a Republican rally for his re-election for president held in the Houston Music Theater parking lot. Jerry Click / Houston Post

10/30/1976 - President Gerald Ford waves to the crowd as balloons are released at a Republican rally for his re-election for president held in the Houston Music Theater parking lot. Jerry Click / Houston Post

Photo: Jerry Click, Houston Chronicle

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Balloons are released in the outfield during the 1987 Opening Day at Dodger Stadium. This less-than environmentally friendly celebration wouldn't fly today.

Balloons are released in the outfield during the 1987 Opening Day at Dodger Stadium. This less-than environmentally friendly celebration wouldn't fly today.

Photo: George Rose, Getty Images

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In this Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011 photo, 3,000 balloons are released at the end of a ceremony at Cumby Family Funeral Service marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, in High Point, N.C.

In this Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011 photo, 3,000 balloons are released at the end of a ceremony at Cumby Family Funeral Service marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, in High Point, N.C.

Photo: Sonny Hedgecock, AP

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Balloons are released during the parade to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing, China.

Balloons are released during the parade to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing, China.

Photo: Getty Images

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Balloons are released into the air to celebrate the New Year in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)

Balloons are released into the air to celebrate the New Year in Sao Paulo, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)

Photo: Alexandre Meneghini

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Thousands of biodegradable balloons are released by Sao Paulo's Commercial Association in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to celebrate New Year.

Thousands of biodegradable balloons are released by Sao Paulo's Commercial Association in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to celebrate New Year.

Photo: Getty Images

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Crowds celebrate as balloons are released to mark the New Year at the Zojoji Temple, in Tokyo, seconds after midnight Friday, Jan. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)

Crowds celebrate as balloons are released to mark the New Year at the Zojoji Temple, in Tokyo, seconds after midnight Friday, Jan. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)

Photo: Greg Baker, AP

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Balloons are released to support French journalist Florence Aubenas and her guide Hussein Hanoun, both held hostage in Iraq, during a gathering front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris Wednesday March 30, 2005. Aubenas and Hanoun were kidnapped on Jan. 5, 2005 in Iraq. (AP Photo/Francois Mori

Balloons are released to support French journalist Florence Aubenas and her guide Hussein Hanoun, both held hostage in Iraq, during a gathering front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris Wednesday March 30, 2005.

San Antonians have shown a predilection for mass balloon releases for everything from grand openings to funerals. But after they fly up and away, where do all these balloons end up?

“Balloon releases are in many ways acceptable forms of litter,” said Nick Mallos, a marine debris specialist with Ocean Conservancy.

And in San Antonio, most of our litter ends up in one place.

“Almost all the litter in the city makes it into our waterways and into our river, and then it makes its way down into the Gulf,” said Tracy Watson, a spokeswoman for Basura Bash, a volunteer organization that conducts an annual cleanup of San Antonio's waterways. What goes up, Watson pointed out, must come down. “It's just another level of trash.”

Phillip Kash, chief operating officer for Hi-Float Co., which makes a polymer that keeps helium-filled balloons floating longer, doesn't exactly agree. Kash pointed to a study that demonstrated that after latex balloons reach an elevation of about 5 miles above ground, they pop, but not in the same way they would at sea level.

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“The balloon actually shreds into tiny little pieces,” Kash said by phone from Louisville, Ky., where Hi-Float is based. “Those shreds, when they fall back to earth, will degrade at about the same rate as an oak leaf.”

Cyndi Jahn, Bexar County district attorney's office victim services coordinator, organized a Monday balloon release to kick off National Crime Victims' Rights Week; and pointed to the same study when asked about the environmental impact of so many balloons.

“I did a lot of research. We used only latex balloons, which are biodegradable,” Jahn said the morning of the event. “Even if they fall just plain, they will degrade at the same rate as an oak leaf.”

The study that both Kash and Jahn fall back on, however, was conducted in 1989 by Don Burchette, husband of Marjorie Burchette, who opened Hi-Float Co. in 1982, and includes lines like these: “The above results are consistent with everyday observation and with common sense. Most of us never see balloons on the ground that have come from a balloon release, even though balloon releases occur very frequently throughout the country.”

Volunteers who do beach cleanups with the Ocean Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization, may beg to differ.

“The reality is, over the past 27 years, we've found more than a million and half balloons in underwater habitats and beaches,” said Mallos, who noted that in 2011 alone, volunteers picked up 93,913 balloons littering waterways and the ocean.

Mylar balloons' conductive properties pose a unique threat if they become entangled in power lines.

“They can cause power outages, so the balloon industry in general has a big push that if you sell a Mylar balloon that you have weight on it, because you don't want those released,” said Kash.

Mallos said there are better ways to express the sentiments behind balloon releases.

“Rather than releasing balloons, many organizations recommend doing something like planting trees or flowers in remembrance of someone. I've even heard of releasing butterflies,” Mallos said. “There are less impactful ways than releasing balloons.”